*Sugar For My Coffee Mission*
To journey each month into The Coffee Shop of Make-Believe. While there, through cyberspace technology and the click of a mouse, we can enjoy a cup of coffee together as we get to know some of the most influential mentors of life empowerment of our time. Our presence together becomes, "Sugar For My Coffee".
Published by Stan Leffew
SFC@advice-for-lifetime-relationships.com

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Welcome to another issue of Sugar For My Coffee. This is the one segment I try to include in all my writings.

The Coffee Shop of Make-Believe is open. Please, come on in and join us.

He said, "Get off the treadmill and make progress in your life. Discover how to Live the Life You've Always Dreamed Of".

We will meet our guest in a moment. But, first I'd like for us to look at the word "dreamed".

For many, when you speak of "dreamed", it's D-Day in your world. You have all the letters of the word included except for one. You have an extra "d" in the place of the "m".

For many, your dreams about life have been replaced with dread. Instead of living the life you've dreamed about, you have been living the life you've dreaded.

Our guest this month issues the above challenge to us all.

Today's coffee break guest:

Mr. Chris Widener!

Chris is the President of Made For Success and Extraordinary Leaders. These two companies are helping individuals and organizations to achieve their dreams by succeeding in all areas of life.

Chris Widener is:

· A Family Man: Chris is married with four children and attributes his many successes to his personal life.· A Featured Man: He has been the featured speaker at major events and has shared the platform with many influential people including U. S. Presidential candidates, best selling authors, professional athletes and nationally known television news anchors.· A Fresh Perspective Man: One of the greatest things I have learned about success in life came from Chris Widener. He said that success is defined as, "The balanced achievement in all areas, not the overachievement in one area."

His perspective is about achieving success in all areas of life, not just business.

This is why I like Chris Widener so much. His message is not just about leadership, it's about life.

I may never be privileged enough to sit personally with Chris Widener for coffee. At least, in The Coffee Shop of Make Believe, we get to. Right?

This is the area of our newsletter where we try to take perspective of things.

I, like millions of others, watched the so-called "Wedding of the Decade". Ryan and Trista, of "Bachelorette" fame, chose to get married before a World Wide audience.

That's not what concerns me! What concerns me is the dominance that we have given to reality TV programming. My belief, for what it's worth, is as follows:

1. TV too often takes the place of quality relationship building. The more real it is, the bigger the appeal. Networks are aware of this and are producing more and more "reality" programming to entice those who live vicariously through their TV set to tune in and boost ratings.

I feel, to our detriment, we know more about what is going on in the lives of "Friends" the TV show than we know about what is going on in the lives of our real friends. We know more about "Big Brother" than we know about our real brothers and sisters.

It concerns me that we seem OK with that!

Is it because building real relationships cost something while TV "connecting" is less intrusive? Perhaps! Maybe it would help if we remembered to value our real "Friends". You know, the ones who really care about what happens to us.

2. Relationship building is reduced to the equivalent of a GAME. The quest for relational bliss in "reality programs" seems to be a little like a sporting event. We all pick our "winners" and "losers" and just sit back and wait to see what happens on the field.

Are we placing emphasis on fun and fanfare when we should be emphasizing faith and family? Just a thought!

That's this month's perspective. All the best!

Journey With Jessica – Christmas Creativity

This segment helps us add a bit of estrogen to the testosterone mix of our newsletter.

Hi everyone! Jessica here!

It's "the most wonderful time of the year". Yes, the holidays are here again. Are you done with your Christmas shopping, yet? If you are, I'm mad at you. Not really. "Envious of you" is probably more like it.

With a toddler in tow and a "bun" in the oven, finding time for holiday shopping has been challenging.

Here's one treat, though, that you can take time for. I want to share with you a special creative thing to do with your family pictures at Christmas.

· Take some of your favorite pictures and Scan them onto your desktop.
· Print several of them per sheet onto photo paper in "Greyscale" for more of a vintage look and cut them into a size that will fit some of your transparent Christmas ornaments.
· Gently roll them into sizes small enough to fit through the opening at the top of the ornament.
· Open them up within the ornament, and presto, you have personalized your Christmas tree.

Try this on your own tree and watch how many people compliment your creativity.

Hope you enjoyed our journey!

As always, looking forward to our time together next month.

COUPLES CORNER – The Gift of Love

In this segment, we will share timely thoughts and articles on relationship building.

It is indeed Christmas. We are, almost daily, reminded of this by our little boy’s "ah-claus" (Santa Claus) that he seems to notice everywhere we go. I would like to share a story that may even warm the heart of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Chad was a quiet, timid young man. One day he approached his mom and asked if he could make Valentine Cards for his classmates at school.

His mom's first reaction was, "I wish he wouldn't do that."

For months, she had watched Chad and his classmates exiting the school bus. Chad was always in front of the group and always seemed to be the laugh behind their jokes. Nevertheless, she purchased the supplies he needed for the task.

For two solid weeks Chad worked on those cards.

Valentine's Day arrived, and Chad didn't even stop for breakfast as he ran out the door with excitement. His mom tried to stop him, and then she just watched him go.

She couldn't help thinking as Chad disappeared that he may not get many Valentine's, perhaps none at all. She decided to have his favorite cookies and milk ready for him when he arrived home.

Sure enough, Chad got off the bus first.

As always, the kids were making fun. She noticed that he was shaking his head and seemed to be walking faster than usual. He brushed right by her shaking his head and didn't even here her offer him the cookies. All he kept saying over and over was, "Not a one, not a one."

Her heart sank!

She rushed to catch him before he ran up the stairs. As she reached for him, he turned on a dime and shouted, "Not a one Mom, not a one, I Didn’t Forget A Single One."

Very little comment is needed from us.

God gave, love gives!

Merry Christmas!

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